Tests
by LayKay
Summary: "Kate stared at the tiny pink plus in the window of the white plastic strip she held. She shook it as like it was an Etch-A-Sketch and she could make the vertical line disappear." Complete.
1. Chapter 1

Kate stared at the tiny pink plus in the window of the white plastic strip she held. She shook it as like it was an Etch-A-Sketch and she could make the vertical line disappear.

She placed the pregnancy test on the edge of the sink, sitting down on the closed toilet seat and ran one hand through her hair. The only person she'd told she suspected she was pregnant was Lanie, not wanting to tell Rick until she was sure. Lanie had offered to watch the door at the precinct while she took a test so no one walked in, but she couldn't risk taking it at work. She bought the test during a short lunch break and locked it in her bottom desk drawer.

She'd sent Rick home though he wanted to walk her out, possibly take her to spend the night at his house, but she told him that she had too much work to do and wanted him to get a good night's sleep. Then she'd left 15 minutes after she was sure he was gone.

They'd discussed the possibility of having kids, but it was a brief conversation late at night brought on by news from Ryan that he and Jenny were expecting a baby. They'd agreed that "someday" they might have children together. There was no doubt in Rick's mind that they would be together for the rest of their lives but she was constantly waiting, wondering when the other shoe would drop and she'd lose one of the few good things left in her life.

She did want to have kids and the only person she could see herself having children with was Rick but she had no idea how to be a mother and a cop. Her job was dangerous enough without the constant worry of if she'd go home to her son or daughter at the end of the day, that her kids would lose her the way she'd lost her mother too soon.

An image of a uniformed officer knocking on the door entered her mind. Rick would be sitting on the floor, playing with their young child before standing up to answer the door. The officer on the other side of the door would remove their hat, offer their condolences and finally tell him that she'd been shot, that she was dead.

She'd never imagined herself dying old and gray in a nursing home next to her husband. She knew it was morbid to think about her own death, but doing what she did she always figured she'd die young, as her mother did. She didn't want to die, she just knew it was inevitable that someday she would and odds were that her job would be the thing that kills her.

Ryan was doing it, he was now a father to a beautiful baby girl and he still did his job. He still put on his bulletproof vest day after day and kicked down doors and walked into danger and everyday he'd gone home safely to his wife and child. He had plans though, making Esposito promise to take care of Jenny and Amanda if anything ever happened to him.

She didn't want that to be her life. To turn to her partner before drawing her gun and rushing into a building and share the knowing nod that meant not only to watch her back but also to take care of her family if she didn't walk back out.

She didn't want a life filled with contingency plans. She knew she wouldn't be able to do her job if she was distracted by thoughts like that. Releasing a breath, she looked at the pregnancy test again.

"Ok," she told herself. "This is happening." She slowly stood and went to her bedroom to pick up her phone. She scrolled through her contacts and clicked on his number.

"Rick? I need you to come over. I'm fine I just… I need to talk to you."

* * *

AN: I intended this as a oneshot but now I kind of want to write a Caskett baby fic. Even though I already kind of have one with In A Flash... idk. Review, let me know what you guys think


	2. Chapter 2

Kate laid on her couch as she waited for Rick to come over, both of her hands over her flat stomach. She blinked up at the ceiling wondering what she would say to him when he got there, imagining him in nine months as he held their newborn wrapped in pink blankets. No, blue. A baby boy, with his eyes.

She couldn't help smiling as she imagined a toothless grin identical to Rick's, paired with bright blue eyes. Then a flash to a not-to-distant future, the same boy, no longer a baby, no longer toothless or smiling was sitting in a funeral home, his arms around Rick tightly avoiding looking at the body in the casket.

A knock on the door tore her out of the nightmare of her own funeral. When she answered the door, Rick was already on edge and it didn't help that she wouldn't look at him.

"What's going on?" he asked. She opened her mouth then closed it, shaking her head. "Kate, please just tell me," he begged. He couldn't stand the silence. "Kate."

"I'm pregnant," she muttered, still not looking at him. "I… I think. I'm late and I took a test…"

Before she finished her sentence, he was on his way to the bathroom. He returned with the pregnancy test in his hand, smiling widely. "This is amazing!" He hugged her tightly.

She put one arm around him, running her hand across his back. She wished she could transfer his enthusiasm to her.

When he released her, his smile slipped. The way she acted when he arrived made sense to him now but he thought her nerves would have subsided once she'd told him. "You aren't happy."

"I'm… I don't know," she told him, picking at her fingernail. She sat down on her couch, looking up at him. "I can't do it."

"Can't do what?"

"They don't make bulletproof vests for pregnant cops. I can't do my job."

He shook his head, sitting down next to her. "You're not the only cop to ever get pregnant. You can still work. Gates will…"

"Gates will put me on desk duty. Like she did with Johnston before she had to go on maternity leave. I don't want to sit at my desk shuffling papers all day, it's not what I do. I work best on the field."

"I know but… what else is there to do? I mean, the only other choice would be to not have the baby and…" he began before a terrifying thought hit him. "Is that an option for you?"

She bit the inside of her cheek looking down at her lap. "It… it crossed my mind," she admitted softly.

His mouth fell open as he stared at her, not blinking. "Wow," he breathed, standing up and walking to the other end of the room.

"We never actually talked about it…"

"Yeah, well me and Meredith didn't exactly plan to have Alexis either," he told her, his anger flaring up. "We hardly knew each other but we never thought about… not having her. I don't know what my life would be without her. But… but you don't want to have my baby be-because for a _few months _you'll be on desk duty!"

She wrapped her arms around her stomach. "I just said it crossed my mind. I didn't say I was actually considering it," she told him, her voice shaking. "I had to weigh my options."

"Do you not want to have a baby with me that bad?"

"No! I mean… I want to have a baby with you. I do. I love you so much." She walked over to him, touching his cheek. "I don't want to have a baby and then… for it to grow up without me."

His eyebrows furrowed. "Why would the baby grow up without you?"

"Because I'm gonna die."

"What? What… what do you mean you're gonna die? Are you sick? Are you…"

She shook her head. "No. No. I'm fine."

"Thank God." He hugged her tightly. "Don't scare me like that."

"Sorry. Just… it'll happen. I mean, how many times have I almost died in the last few years?"

"But you haven't. You're still here. You're here and I'm here." He leaned his forehead against hers, placing his hand on her stomach. "And we can do this."


	3. Chapter 3

"Good morning," Rick said as he walked over to Kate's desk, setting down her plastic travel mug in front of her and kissing the side of her head quickly before he sat down.

"Morning." She smiled gratefully, picking up the mug and taking a long drink then dropping the cup back on her desk. "Ugh. Gross. What _is_ that?" she demanded, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand.

"It's herbal tea."

She scraped her tongue across her teeth, trying to get the taste out of her mouth. "Why would you get me tea?"

"Well, you can't really have coffee when you're preg-"

"Shut up," she said through gritted teeth. "What's wrong with decaf?" she whispered.

"Tea's better for you."

She rolled her eyes. "Tomorrow at least get me decaf."

"Alright. So when do you want to tell Gates?"

When he finished his question, she was thankful she didn't have her coffee because had she been drinking it, she would have spit it out. "We can't tell Gates."

"We have to."

"Why?" she demanded.

"Well, in a few months she's going to find out one way or another. Remember how upset she was that we kept our relationship from her for so long? You don't think she'll be upset that you lied about being pregnant?"

"Don't say that word," she told him in a hushed voice, glancing around to see if anyone had heard him.

"Sorry, would you rather me say with child?"

"Castle, shut up." She ran a hand through her hair. "Look, we don't tell anyone until we have to, alright?"

"Tell anybody what?" a stern voice behind them asked, making Kate sit up straighter.

"Nothing, sir," Kate said, not looking at her boss.

"I warned you about bringing your relationship problems into my precinct. You two can have a lover's quarrel on your own time."

"We aren't quarreling," Rick interjected, turning to look at Gates. "Just talking."

"Yo, Beckett." She looked up at Esposito, holding a post-it note. "We got a body."

* * *

"Are you ok?" Rick asked as he led Kate into her apartment.

"I told you, I'm fine. It must have been something I ate." She sat down on the couch, putting her head on the cushions behind her.

When they made it to the crime scene, the body was badly decomposed. Lanie estimated the body had been in the Hudson River for at least a month. The smell turned her stomach and she had to run into an alley to avoid throwing up on the body.

"Yeah, it's not possible it's morning sickness."

She rolled her eyes. "I haven't been getting morning sickness. It was the smell combined with something I ate. Besides, it's two in the afternoon. Not the morning."

"You've eaten and smelled worse things. And Meredith was sick all day long when she was pregnant."

She shook her head. "What are we gonna do, Rick?"

"You just relax and I'll make you something to eat. You'll feel better soon."

"I don't mean about me getting sick. I mean… about this," she said, motioning to her stomach. "I'm not in this alone, right?"

"No. No, you are most definitely not in this alone." He sat next to her and put his arm around her, pulling her against him.

She leaned her head against his chest, intertwining their fingers near her shoulder. "Did it ever scare you? Being a father?"

"It still scares me. Whenever I go more than a few hours without hearing from her, I start panicking. Wondering where she is and why she hasn't called me to check in. Luckily, she was perfect when she was a teenager, she was always in by curfew or I might have had a heart attack six years ago."

"Somehow I don't think this one will be as perfect," she told him, taking his other hand and placing it against her stomach.

"Especially if it takes after you," he said lightly. "I'll be in my late fifties when it becomes a teenager. I might actually die."

She inhaled deeply. "Please don't."

He smiled, kissing her neck softly. "Don't worry. You aren't getting rid of me for a while."

"Good. Someone needs to raise the baby."

"What are you… Kate, you're not still convinced you're gonna die, are you?"

"Well I am," she told him with a shrug.

"Yeah, in about seventy years."

"You just said you were gonna die young."

"The difference being that I'm joking. I love you, Kate. I don't want to think about anything happening to you."

She let out a soft moan as he nuzzled against her neck. Her hand released his, twisting around his neck so her fingers curled into his hair. "Back at you."

"How's your stomach?" he whispered, in desperate need of a subject change as his large hand stretched across her abdomen.

"Better now, I think."

"Let me know if you need anything."

She nodded. "Don't worry, I will."

He could see her grinning over her shoulder. "This is gonna be a long nine months, isn't it?"

She laughed. "Longest of your life."


	4. Chapter 4

Kate looked up at Lanie, sitting on her friend's couch as she handed her a glass of what looked like wine. "It's apple juice," Lanie explained. "I stocked up for you."

Kate barely smiled, nodding as she set the glass on the table. "Eight months until I can have alcohol again. And coffee."

"Also in eight months, you'll have a baby. You're gonna be a mommy. Aren't you even a little bit excited?" Lanie asked. Kate sighed, rolling her eyes. "Don't give me that look. I know you've thought about it. Taking it trick-or-treating, dressing it like a cop every single year."

Finally, the detective broke into a smile. "I think Castle might already have his heart set on the first family trick-or-treat being him as Han Solo, me as Princess Leia and the baby as Yoda."

"I sure hope for this kid's sake that it's a baby Yoda and not a baby Leia."

Kate's eyes narrowed. "What's that mean?"

"That you have a boy. If you have a girl, she will never get to have a social life between her over-protective Daddy, scary uncles Javi and Kevin, and Mommy who carries a gun."

"And Aunt Lanie?"

"Oh, I'll be nearby. With a scalpel to cut the jugular of any boy who makes my little niece cry."

"Well, what we have a boy?"

Lanie shrugged. "The offer still stands. And while our grown-up ten year olds high five each other when the boy goes out on a date, I will be there to make sure he keeps his stuff out of where it doesn't belong and making you a grandmother before you hit fifty."

Kate shuttered. "Lanie, I'm just getting used to the idea of being a mother. Don't make me a grandmother yet."

"Don't tell me, tell your son."

"Hey, there's a 50 percent chance it can be a girl," she said, hoping her baby turned out more like Alexis, skipping the horrible rebellious phase Kate had gone through.

"You mean Castle hasn't done the string test?"

Kate rolled her eyes. "Side-to-side it's a boy, up-and-down it's a girl. He moved it side-to-side on purpose. He wants a boy. He won't say it, but I can tell."

"All men want a junior. And he never had a dad. He probably hoped Alexis would be a boy too, just so he could have that relationship."

Kate nodded, putting her hands on her stomach. "He's so excited. No matter what it ends up being… he's so happy he's gonna be a dad again. He said when Alexis was a baby was the best time in his life. When she just relied on him for everything, she needed him. I don't know what it's like to be needed like that, to be relied on."

"And there we are," Lanie said with a nod. "You're not allowed to go your dark place."

"What dark place? I do not have a dark place."

"Girl, like 70 percent of you is a dark place."

"Hey!"

She shrugged. "I'm your best friend and it's my job to keep you in your 30 percent safe area. And it's Castle's and this baby's job to shrink that 70. This self-doubt thing was alright for the first few weeks but you need to do this."

"Lanie…"

"No, you don't get to do this anymore. You can't. You're a mother now and if you keep thinking like this, that baby is going to pick up on it." Lanie reached over to take Kate's hand. "I know that you can do this, Castle knows you can and you know you can. "

"I don't know that."

"You've never not been able to do something you put your mind to. I know you're scared but I also know you're excited."

"I just never saw myself being a mom. I never thought I'd fall in love the way I've fallen for Rick. You know, I never thought anyone would want me."

"And you were wrong about everything. You're going to be a great mother."

"You think so?"

"Yes. When are you going to learn to not question me? I am always right and the sooner you just accept, the easier your life will be."


	5. Chapter 5

"Rick, it's freezing. Where are you taking me?"

Rick let out a short laugh, holding onto Kate's hand. She had a silk scarf covering her eyes. "Sorry. We're here." He untied knot on the back of her head, stuffing the scarf into his jacket pocket.

He watched her, smiling as a wide smile spread across her face. She released his hand and walked over to their swing set. She sat down, twisting side to side as Rick moved to sit next to her. "So why are we here?"

Instead of answering, he looked up at the skyline of the city. "Remember when you could see the Twin Towers from here? You could see them from almost anywhere in the city on a clear day."

"I know. My parent's apartment had such an amazing view of the towers. They were so massive. I was fresh out of the Academy on 9/11. Watching all those people… no one knew what to do. It was so scary."

Rick swung sideways, taking her hand. "The city's weird in September, isn't it?"

"This city's weird all year."

He smiled. "I mean… it's like everything goes quiet this time of year. Everyone has more respect for each other."

"If people had respect for each other, we wouldn't have jobs. Did you drag me all the way out here to talk about September 11th? Because that was two weeks ago and it's cold and you won't let me have coffee so this will really not end well for you."

"Sorry," he said with a quick laugh. "Just trying to work up my nerve."

"For what?"

He squeezed her hand softly. "I brought you out here to tell you how much I love you. This is the place that if I'm somehow feeling disconnected, if I need inspiration, I just come here and think about that day two years ago. When you didn't call I thought… I thought you never would. I thought everything between us was over then we sat here and we talked… and I was your partner again. As silly as this might sound, I think every couple has a place in the city that's theirs, that they can go to and just… be. This is our place."

"Can I vote that our place be the library, especially in the winter?"

"It's September, it is not the winter."

"Castle," she whined. "It's still cold!"

"Sorry. I'll cut to the chase."

"Thank you."

"I love you, Kate," he told her, turning his swing to face her and planting his feet so he wouldn't swing back. "You make me feel like home, no matter where I am. No matter what I'm doing or who I'm with, for the last six years you've always been my north star." He dug one hand into his jacket pocket, pulling out a tiny black box. "Kate, will you marry me?" he asked, opening the box and showing her the diamond ring nested inside.

Her eyes flashed between his face and the ring, her mouth opening and closing. "I… I'm…" She shook her head and got off the swing, walking away from him.

"Kate?" He put the ring back into his pocket and got up to catch her. "Kate," he said again. "You're not gonna say anything? I ask you to marry me and you just… walk away?"

"No. Yes. I'm… I'm not."

"Really? Then what is it you're doing? I'm sick of you running away from me, Beckett."

She flinched when he called her by her last name. He only called her that when he was upset with her or sometimes when they were at work. "I don't mean to." She finally turned to face him again. "I don't want you to feel forced to do this."

"Why would I feel forced?"

"Because I'm pregnant. Just because I'm having your baby doesn't mean you have to marry me."

"You think I'm just asking because you're pregnant?"

"Why else would you ask?"

"I don't know, Kate. Maybe because I love you. Yes, I am asking _now_ because I'd like us to be married before the baby's born but I would have asked you eventually."

"You want to get married before the baby's born? I'm due in March! We can't get married that quick."

"Why not? It gives us eight months. Six, maybe seven, if we want to get our honeymoon in while you can travel."

Kate shook her head. "No. No. We shouldn't rush into marriage because of this."

"Do you love me?"

She released a breath. "You know I do."

"Good. I've loved you for six years, Kate and that will never change. True, I would have preferred to do this all in a different order but this is how it's happening for us. I don't think six years is rushing much of anything, do you?"

"We can't plan a wedding less than eight months."

"So it won't be some huge thing the whole city gets invited to. You wouldn't like that anyway. It'll be us, our families, Lanie, Espo, Ryan and Jenny. We can find a little chapel somewhere, have a nice quiet ceremony then just slip away and honeymoon in Europe or something. No Page Six, no screaming reporters, just us."

She smiled. "That actually sounds perfect."

He grinned widely, putting his arms around her. "So what do you say?"

She inhaled deeply, looking up at him as her arms came around his shoulders. "I'll take that ring now."


	6. Chapter 6

Rick sat in his chair next to Kate's desk looking in through the window of Gates' office. Gates was seated behind her desk with Kate standing on the other side as they spoke. He stared intently at them both, trying to read their lips.

"Uh oh."

"What did you do now?"

Rick didn't look away from the window as Ryan and Esposito walked over to him, sitting on the nearby desks so they were both facing him. "I didn't do anything. Well… nothing that will get her in trouble." He frowned. "I hope."

"You wanna tell us what's going on?" Esposito asked, folding his arms.

"Yeah," Ryan said. "We can help you."

Rick looked in at Kate once more, figuring she would be in there for a while before he turned back to the other men. "We're getting married."

Ryan smiled widely. "What? That's great, man. Congratulations. When's the big day?"

"Another one bites the dust," Esposito mumbled.

Shaking his head at Espo's reaction, he looked at Ryan. "We're aiming for January."

"January? That soon? Really? Beckett's ok with that?"

"Well, she doesn't really have a choice. There's... extenuating circumstances."

Both the other men's smiles slipped. "What's that mean?" Esposito asked.

"Is everything ok?"

"No. Yeah, everything's fine. We're both fine." He let out a breath, looking in at Kate and their captain again. "Oh, she's gonna kill me if I tell you."

Esposito and Ryan both leaned forward. "You have to tell us, dude. We're involved now."

"We know how to keep secrets. Beckett will never know you told us."

Rick rolled his eyes when Ryan insisted she wouldn't find out about this conversation. "Yeah, right. She… she's pregnant."

"Pregnant? Like… you're gonna have a kid?"

"Yeah, Espo that's normally how it works," Kate said, making all three men freeze. "I thought we were gonna tell them together."

"We… they were here and you were…" Rick stammered. "Sorry."

Ryan got up to hug her. "You're gonna be a beautiful mother," he told her, kissing her cheek. "I'll give some of the books Jenny read while she was pregnant with Amanda."

"You also gonna plan the baby shower?" Esposito interrupted. "Congratulations, guys," he told them then got up to return to his desk.

Kate motioned for Ryan to talk to Esposito, he nodded and followed his partner.

"So what did Gates say?"

She shrugged, sitting down in her chair. "What I expected her to say. Once the vest doesn't fit, I'm on desk duty until the baby's born."

He nodded, leaning forward slightly. "You know, I read online that wearing the vest can be bad for the baby. The compression might hurt it and if you get shot or something, the pressure could make you miscarry."

"I don't want to talk about this," she told him, running a hand through her hair. "Not here."

"I want you to quit. Just until the baby's born."

"Excuse me?" she asked, her mouth falling open. "That's not your decision to make and even if it was I can't just quit and come back whenever I want."

"I just meant go on desk duty."

"Again, not up to you. We talked about this."

"We're engaged, Kate. You can't just…"

"So because we're engaged now you get to control me?"

"No, I…"

"Look, if that's why you want to get married, forget it." She pulled the ring off her finger and threw it against his chest before pushing away from her desk and disappearing into the breakroom.

He picked up the ring then looked at Ryan and Esposito, both of whom were clearly listening but quickly looked away. "Mood swings," he said loud enough for them to hear. Ryan simply nodded, looking down at the case file in his hand.

After giving her a moment to cool off, he got up and followed her into the breakroom, closing the door behind him. "You dropped this," he said, holding the ring in front of her as she watched coffee brew.

She bit into her lip, not looking at him as she crossed her arms.

"I just want you to be safe. Both of you."

She nodded. "I know." Suddenly she turned to him, wrapping her arms around his waist tightly. "I'm so scared," she mumbled against his shoulder.

He kissed the top of her head softly. "Me too."

She pulled away enough to look up at him, keeping her arms around him. "I understand why you want me on desk duty but you have to trust that I know what I'm doing. I'll be careful. You know how good I am at what I do."

"You can't fault me for worrying."

"I know." Her hand gripped the back of his shirt. "I'll make you a deal, ok? I'll be extra careful from now on, I'll bring up the rear."

"And for my side of the deal?"

"Let me do my job, like you know I can. You've never not trusted me to keep myself or you safe, trust me to keep our child safe."

He nodded. "I do." He held his hand out palm up, holding the ring. "So do you want this back?"

She smiled, nodding as she held her hand out for him to put the ring back onto her finger. He slid it on, stopping at her second knuckle. "You're never allowed to take this off again, so you know," he told her.

"You don't need to worry about that," she promised him, leaning in to kiss him but pulling away just before their lips met. "Come on, lets get out of here. It's been a long day and I need one of your massages."

* * *

AN: I have no idea how I'm writing this so quickly. Don't worry, they aren't foreshadowing anything here (I can't do that to them). For those waiting for In A Flash and Safe and Sound to be updated, this and my random one-shots are taking up most of my time. I'll update them... someday


	7. Chapter 7

Kate smiled at Rick as he sat on the floor playing with Kevin and Jenny's five-month-old daughter, Amanda, who they were babysitting so the other couple could have a much needed date night. And Kate needed practice, having not been around a small child for more than a few minutes at a time since high school.

Rick stood Amanda up, holding out his arms as the giggling infant fell forward against his chest.

"If you hurt her…" Kate began.

"I won't hurt her. She's having fun."

"Ryan will kill you," she told him.

Rick stood her up again, this time barely catching her as she fell slightly sideways. He quickly sat her down on the floor, handing her a toy. "See? She's fine."

"Where you like this with Alexis?"

"Would it make you feel better if I said no?" he asked sitting on the couch with her and pulling her against his chest as they watched Amanda play with her teddy bear.

She simply shook her head, leaning her back against his chest. "I'm choosing to trust you."

"I've kept Alexis alive for 20 years, haven't I?"

She hummed in agreement, nodding her head once. "How is still a mystery to me."

"You know, she's really excited. She always wanted a baby brother or sister. I think she just might be upset that you're about fifteen years too late."

"Fifteen years ago I was…" she began but trailed off. He knew exactly what she was going through fifteen years ago.

He kissed her neck, running his hand along her stomach. She hadn't really begun to show yet, at barely two months pregnant but he knew her body so well, he noticed her slight weight gain before she did. To anyone who didn't know she was pregnant, she just looked like she'd gained a couple pounds.

"I wonder if Ricky will be that cute," he said after a moment of watching Amanda play.

"Ricky?" she said, turning her head to look at him. "Do I get a say in this?"

"Of course. But I always thought if I had a son he'd be Richard Junior."

She smiled. "Fine. If it's a girl…"

"Rikki."

"Are you that desperate for this kid to be named after you that you would name your daughter Richard?"

"Of course not. Rikki as in R-I-K-K-I. As in Rook and Nikki."

"And it just so happens to work out that the baby is still named after you."

"Well, it's part you. Nikki is you."

She shook her head. "Do I have a vote?"

"Of course."

"Johanna Nicole. There's a little bit of Nikki Heat in there."

He smiled, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear then stroking her cheek softly with his thumb. "I'm not backing down on Richard Junior though."

"Mmm… alright." She grabbed his hand, catching his thumb between her lips then biting down.

"Ow! Ow, ow, apples! Apples! Ok, we can talk about Richard," he yelled until she finally released his thumb.

"I'm fine with Richard."

"Then why the biting?"

She let out a quick laugh, kissing the tiny dent on his finger. "I want a vote on the middle name. You got Nicole for the girl."

"I didn't want Nicole, I wanted Rikki."

She rolled her eyes. "Fine. Rikki can be our second daughter."

"But if we have a boy and his name is Ricky, we can't name a girl Rikki later."

"Alright, how about this, I promise someday you will get a Ricky. Whatever spelling it ends up being."

He grinned. "You know you just agreed to possibly have a second baby with me."

"If you play your cards right, maybe," she told him, kissing his lips quickly. "I want my first daughter to be Johanna though."

He nodded. "What did you want boy Ricky's middle name to be?"

"Roy. I know, Richard Roy doesn't have that nice of a ring but…"

"No, no. I like it. I know Montgomery was like a father to you and he was my friend." He grinned against her neck. "Where would we be if he didn't give me permission to follow you around?"

She smiled, looking at Amanda again, wondering just where she would be if he'd never been permitted to work next to her six years ago. He did make a snowball that eventually turned into an avalanche but she knew that she would have someday begun investigating her mother's murder again. She would have created her own avalanche, with or without him. But if she had gone at it alone, he wouldn't have been there to help her, to pull her to safety before she drowned in it.

"Well, you'd probably be naked on a horse somewhere," she said, shaking those other thoughts from her head.

"Yeah, most likely," he agreed.

She could tell by the tone in his voice he was thinking the same as her, that she would not only not be on this couch in his arms, pregnant with his child, and babysitting their partner's daughter. They both knew exactly where she would be if it wasn't for Montgomery. He placed a kiss against her cheek, touching her stomach again.

"We owe a lot to that man," he whispered. "The least we could do is name our kid after him."


	8. Chapter 8

Kate stood in front of a full-length mirror, studying herself in the ivory colored gown she wore. Alexis, who had her father's Platinum card in her purse, sat nearby with Lanie and Martha.

"That one is gorgeous, darling," Martha told her. "Perfect. Absolutely perfect."

Kate nodded. There was no denying it was beautiful, one of the few wedding dresses all four women could approve of that was made for a pregnant bride.

"You'd think that this day and age they'd offer more choices to these poor girls," Martha had said as they searched through racks with Kate's bridal consultant. "Just because they're having a baby doesn't mean they should look like they're out of the 1800s." She finally managed to find one she deemed fit for her future daughter-in-law to wear.

The dress was sleeveless and floor length, with an empire waist that would accentuate her stomach as she'd be six months along when they got married, she'd surely be showing by then. Inhaling deeply, she touched the sweetheart neckline of the dress.

"I don't know if I want it to be so… obvious," she murmured.

Lanie immediately picked up on what Kate was referring and got up to stand next to her to while Martha and Alexis shared confused looks. "No one is going to be looking at that," she told her, taking Kate's hand away from the scar between her breasts.

"Own it," Lanie said, squeezing her hand. "It's part of you."

"We can find another dress if you prefer," Kate's consultant offered. "But I have to say, this one does look amazing on you."

Kate inhaled deeply, her eyes not leaving the mirror where the scar on her chest was in clear view. She had to admit, the dress was perfect for her, everything she'd imagined as a little girl despite the limitations in choices she had. With the exception of the extra fabric at her stomach, the dress fit her perfectly, hugging every curve, which was a blessing because they had very little time to get it altered.

"You have to admit, it makes your ass look great," Lanie told her.

* * *

Rick looked away from the television as Kate, Martha and Alexis walked into the loft. "Hi, ladies. How'd shopping go?"

"Amazingly," Martha told him. "We found the perfect dress for Kate and bridesmaids' dresses for Lanie and Alexis and a mother of the groom dress for me."

"Mother of the groom? Is that a thing?" he asked as Martha handed him his credit card. "It looks tired."

"Of course it is."

"Relax, Daddy," Alexis said. "It isn't that bad."

"And how bad is not that bad?"

"You said not to worry about the price of the dress."

"I said not to worry about _Kate's_ dress," he told her as she and Martha escaped upstairs.

"Calm down, honey," Kate said, moving to the back of the couch to rub his shoulders.

He grunted, putting his credit card back into his wallet. "More or less than a car?"

"Well… what kind of car?"

"A Chevy or a Porsche?"

"Umm," she hummed close to his neck, running her hand along his chest hoping to distract him. "Maybe a Volvo."

"Ok. I can live with a Volvo." He turned around to face her, kneeling on the couch. "What's the dress look like?"

She smiled, putting her arms around his shoulders. "I'm not telling you. It's bad luck."

"It's bad luck for me to see you in it, not for me to know what it looks like."

"You'll see what it looks like in four months."

He sighed softly. "What designer is it?"

"It… you're gonna look it up online."

He shook his head, feigning innocence. "I just want to know if it's nice."

She smiled, kissing his lips softly. "You don't trust four women who know you very well, two of whom are related to you by blood, to find a dress you'll like?"

"I just want to be prepared. If I need Espo to have smelling salts for when I pass out after I see you for the first time, I'd like to know."

"Well, better safe than sorry."

"Can I have a hint?"

She shook her head, walking away from the couch. "You can have a sneak peek of the honeymoon though," she told him, heading towards their bedroom.

He smiled, jumping over the back of the couch. "Those are my favorite kinds of sneak peeks."

* * *

AN: these last couple chapter have just kind of been fluffy fillers. You guys don't mind, right? ;p Next chapter will be longer and less filler… possibly.


	9. Chapter 9

Rick looked at Kate, holding his bulletproof vest in his hand as he watched her strap hers on. "It's too tight," he told her when she had difficultly attaching the strips of Velcro on her side.

"It's fine," she said, rolling her eyes when she finally got it secured. She had been more careful on the field, never going out with Ryan and Esposito but she still went out there and was committed to doing her job as she always had until she couldn't.

"Kate, you promised," he said, grabbing hold of her arm as she began to follow Ryan and Esposito, who both stopped to look at them.

"You can stay out here," Ryan said, knowing she'd never agree to sit in the car while they went into the warehouse without her.

"This will be my last one," she said.

Ryan looked at Rick, who shrugged and nodded. Esposito went first, pounding on the door before kicking it open.

* * *

It all happened so fast, literally in a flash of light in the dark warehouse before the light from Kate's flashlight disappeared from their suspect as she dropped it, her hand going to her other arm. Esposito and Ryan fired one shot each into their suspect before Ryan called for an ambulance. "EMT's three minutes out."

"It's fine," Kate called over to them, sinking to the ground as she began feeling lightheaded.

Rick ran quickly over to her, cradling her in his arms as he looked at the hole in her arm, looking for an exit wound. He noticed the Velcro side of her vest had opened, blood was seeping out of a wound he couldn't see, spreading across her white shirt.

* * *

Rick released a deep breath as he watched Gates walk away from Kate's hospital bed. She didn't look at him, her lips in a thin line as she walked past him to leave the ER. He had clean jeans and a shirt for her folded under his arm, he ran to their apartment to get her some clothes when Gates came to get her statement. When he returned, he had nothing to do but stand far enough away that he couldn't hear them until their boss was gone.

He walked over to her bed, placing the clothes down at the foot of the bed before he kissed her forehead. "I was so scared," he whispered. He hadn't seen her since they took her to surgery, she had only been in recovery for a couple minutes before he was sent away while she gave her statement on the shooting.

"I'm ok. I'm ok. The baby's fine." She sat up a bit, wincing as a pain shot through her arm, which was wrapped in white bandages and in a sling. "Doctors said it was a clean through-and-through, it just grazed my side. I just needed a few stitches. I'll have full range of motion back in a few weeks."

He nodded. "I know." He sat down on the bed next to her legs, taking her hand. "Just seeing you lay there… you weren't moving and I didn't know what happened."

She squeezed his hand softly. "Hey, at least you don't have to worry for a while. I can't really work with one arm."

"That's not funny. What if you had gotten shot in somewhere else, Kate? Your vest opened up, that bullet could have gone into your chest or hit you in the stomach. Something serious, more serious than having to wear a sling for a couple of weeks."

"I know. Thankfully we don't need to think like that. Like I said, I'm going on desk duty now."

He shook his head. "What were you thinking, Kate? Going in there like that?"

"I needed to be there for Ryan and Espo."

"They would have been perfectly fine without you. I mean, you know how valuable of an asset you are to them but you could have stayed in the car. You could have called for backup if things got bad."

"You know as well as I do that sometimes being in the car is just as dangerous as being inside that building. Especially if I was in the car unprotected. If I hadn't been in there, he might have gotten away. What if he had run out of the building when the boys weren't looking? I would have gone for him, no vest, zero protection, zero backup. I would have died."

"Ryan and Espo would have gotten him though."

"You know that suspects run. When cops show up with guns, their first instinct is to get out and take out a couple of us if necessary. And then when he came out of that building and I jumped out of the car, he would have put a round in my head."

Rick inhaled deeply. "Now all those times you locked me in the car seem cruel."

"Well, I knew you would have been safe if you actually did stay in the car. I couldn't have. If I'm not at the precinct, I'm safest inside with the boys."

He nodded. "And you're staying at the precinct now, right?"

"I don't have a choice," she said with a shrug, a twinge of annoyance in her voice.

"Sorry that carrying my child is inconveniencing you, Kate."

"I didn't mean it like that. We've talked about this already, you know how I feel about my job."

"I know. Trust me, I know. Getting shot in the chest didn't stop you, people trying to kill you didn't stop you, why would I think a baby would?"

"I'm trying to make this city safer for our child."

"You don't have to get yourself killed doing it."

"I'm not," she told him, yelling over his deep voice. "This isn't the first time I've been shot and it probably won't be the last but you know that I'm a fighter."

"Sometimes there's nothing to fight," he said, his voice softer.

"And I'll do whatever I have to to go home to you at the end of the day."

* * *

AN: I fixed some spelling/grammar mistakes in the last chapter. And for those who want to see a picture of Kate's dress, it doesn't really exist at least not that I could find online. This chapter is over a thousand words! I know, I'm in shock too.


	10. Chapter 10

Rick rolled over in bed, one arm spreading across the empty space beside him. He opened his eyes, rolling onto his back as he searched the room, finally noticing the light on in the bathroom under the slightly ajar door.

He rolled out of bed and quietly pushed the door open until he saw Kate standing topless in front of the mirror, her right arm raised slightly as she examined the unhealed wound under her breast that stretched across her side. She gingerly touched the warm skin held together with thick black stitches.

"Morning," she said suddenly, looking at his reflection in the mirror.

"Morning." He walked into the bathroom, grabbing a pre-cut piece of gauze and surgical tape the hospital had given them from the medicine cabinet before walking over to her. "Doctor said you shouldn't be leaving it uncovered," he told her as he re-bandaged the wound.

She simply nodded. He put the bandages on the edge of the sink then leaned against it to face her as she pulled the t-shirt she slept in over her head.

"Are you happy, Kate?"

"I… what?"

"I mean… would you tell me if you weren't? With me and the baby on the way and… everything?"

She blinked up at him. "Do you really think I'm not happy?"

He shrugged, looking down at his bare feet. "You've just been acting a little… off. If something's bothering you, you can tell me. You know that, right? Anything. Anything at all, I'm here. I'm not going anywhere."

She lifted one hand to his cheek. "I love you. I know, I don't say that enough but I am happy. I'm just… we're getting married and we're gonna have a baby and it's all happening so quick."

"We can put the wedding off," he offered. "If I could slow down the baby coming, I would for you."

She smiled. "You're perfect, you know that? I don't want to put off the wedding. We should be able to enjoy being newlyweds for a few weeks before the baby's born, right? It wouldn't be much of a honeymoon with a screaming newborn."

"You're right. I don't want to have to fight my own kid for second base."

"Castle, that's gross," she told him, laughing. "Sorry I've been so horrible."

"You haven't been horrible. A bit difficult, yes. But never horrible."

"I hate to blame hormones for me being difficult but…" she shrugged.

"You don't need an excuse. Not until you come at me with a butcher knife."

"Well, I can't make any promises. The baby is in charge of my emotions."

"The baby doesn't want you to stab me with a butcher knife." He knelt down in front of her so he was looking at her swollen belly. "Do you, peanut? You don't want Mommy to hurt Daddy, right?" he cooed.

"I wouldn't hurt you," she said, running her fingers through his hair. "Much." She gripped his ear, pulling him upright.

"Ah! I'm guessing much is the operative word there?"

* * *

Kate looked up from her computer at the precinct as Rick sat down in his chair next to her desk. "What are you doing here? I thought you were gonna spend the day writing."

He shrugged. "I got bored. I wanted to spend the day with you."

"Not too much is going on here, babe. Just lots of paperwork."

He looked at the pile of folders under her arm and pulled a few away from her, flipping a file open.

"What are you doing?"

"You're always saying I don't do my share of the paperwork." His eyebrows furrowed as he looked at the sheet in front of him.

"Do you even know what you're doing?"

"Not a clue. Do I sign here?"

She looked at the paper. "If you want to confess to a murder, yes." She pulled the folder out of his hands and placed the files back into her pile. "Thanks for trying. I can handle it."

He huffed out a breath, crossing his arms on her desk and propping his chin again his arm.

"Aren't you happy you left home for this?"

He shrugged one shoulder, looking up at her. "I came to spend the day with you. That's what I'm doing."

She smiled. "If you plan to spend all day watching me I should warn you, it's really gonna get on my nerves."

"I know. You can punish me later."


	11. Chapter 11

AN: sorry I haven't updated this in so long. This chapter took forever to get out and it pretty much only exists to fill up some holes I made in previous chapters

* * *

Kate woke instantly when she rolled over, knowing Rick's body was missing next to hers before she could even open her eyes. She sat up, glancing around the room but it was dark, the door to the hallway closed.

She carefully rolled out of bed, her injured arm curled against her swollen stomach as she left the room. She quickly checked his office, wondering if he'd fallen asleep writing as he sometimes did but that room was empty as well.

She jumped when she heard voices in the living room. And gun shots. She turned and ran quietly back to their bedroom, retrieving the gun kept in her bedside table and returning to the living room, aiming the gun awkwardly with only her left hand.

Her eyes darted around the room, sighing softly when she saw the television on with Rick asleep on the couch, the remote still in his hand. She put her gun on the table and sat carefully next to his legs, taking the remote from him to turn off the TV before she touched his knee. "Rick, wake up," she said, giving his leg a slight shake.

He mumbled incoherently about a body.

"No, there's no body."

"Early," he murmured, not opening his eyes.

"Then come back to bed."

He grunted, rolling his body halfway toward the cushions. "I'm fine."

"You can't be comfortable out here. Come on." She grabbed both his hands, tugging him into a sitting position.

"I'm fine, really. Just go back to bed."

She frowned as he pulled away from her and laid down again. "What's going on?"

He bit down on his lip, sitting up once more and pulling the t-shirt he was wearing up to show her a red and purple bruise on his back.

"What the hell happened?" she asked as she reached out to touch the small bruise.

"You. You literally kicked me out of bed. Five times."

She quickly covered her mouth to keep from laughing. "I'm sorry," she said, trying and failing to keep her face straight.

"Right. So I'll just stay out here if that's ok with you."

"Well, it isn't. You know I can't sleep without you. Do you really want me to not sleep tonight? Come on, if I kick you again I'll kiss it and make it better."

"Strange, pregnancy has made you violent and affectionate."

"Well I don't mean to be violent. Not to you anyway."

"Further proof the baby hates me," he mumbled, putting his hand against her stomach.

She rolled her eyes. "Just because it won't uncross its legs during the sonograms so we can tell if it's a boy or a girl doesn't mean it hates you."

"I just wanna know if we should paint the nursery blue or pink."

"So we'll paint it green. Besides, won't it be kind of fun if we don't know what it is? We can be surprised when it's born."

"I don't like calling it it though. Meredith and I knew Alexis was going to be a girl as soon as we could, she had a name before she was six months along."

"Well, Little Castle here likes keeping secrets."

He let out a low groan, looking at her stomach. "Don't keep secrets from Daddy. He doesn't like it and it raises his blood pressure."

"Which makes him whine and that annoys Mommy. Kind of like my fiancée refusing to come to bed at 3 in the morning."

"I don't wanna get kicked again."

"Already with the whining. Come on." She stood up and took his hand again. "Back to bed," she said, tugging on his hand until he was standing as well.

He followed her out of the living room, looking at the gun on the table. "You said you're gonna try to not kick me but you're not gonna shoot me right?"

She smiled, picking her gun up. "Not tonight. Let's go to bed."


	12. Chapter 12

"Why are you doing this to me, Gina?" Rick yelled into his phone, trying to stay as quiet as he could, as Kate was sleeping five feet away from him. He glanced over his shoulder to see if she had woken up then walked out of the room, going to his office. "I understand I have to do press for the new book but why do I have to go on Good Morning America on Kate's birthday?"

"It was the only available slot before your release date. You'll be back home by 10."

"But Kate works. I was gonna give her breakfast in bed and…" he began as he sat in his chair, but Gina interrupted him.

"And decorate the room with her favorite things, get a cake that's bigger than the kitchen. I'm familiar with your birthday celebrations, Rick."

He sighed. "Another day, Gina. _Any_ other day. I'll do the show after the book's out."

"I'll send a car to pick you up at five."

"Gina, please."

"Do you realize how lucky you are to get this on such short notice?"

"No, but isn't it your job to set these things up with advanced notice to me, on days that don't interfere with my personal life?"

"If she's as special to you as you say she is, you'll have plenty more birthdays. This is your career, Rick. Remember when a European book tour was more important to you than our anniversary?"

"It wasn't… we spent our anniversary in Rome, remember? It was beautiful."

"What I remember is spending our anniversary in a hotel room with Alexis while you went to a party, then you came back at two in the morning with a thong in your pocket."

"Gina…" he sighed.

"A car will pick you up at five," she told him again before she hung up.

"We can have dinner. Or lunch with Javi and Kevin like last year," Kate said, making Rick jump.

"How long have you been standing there?"

She smiled, walking over to his desk. "Long enough."

"I'm sorry. I had plans…"

"Plans change, Rick. We both know that," she told him, touching her stomach. She walked over to him, putting her arms around him, giving him a slight squeeze. "You better have an amazing present for me though."

"Oh, I do. Trust me, you'll love it."

* * *

Rick smiled as he walked into the precinct, sitting in his chair next to Kate's desk. "So did you see the interview?"

"Parts of it," she said, not looking up from the cold case file she was working on. "Is Nikki really pregnant or were you just teasing about that?"

He shrugged. "Art imitates life."

"Actually the saying is life imitates art."

He smiled at her. "Happy birthday. Ready for your present?"

She smiled, putting her pen down before she looked at him, seeing his hands were empty. "Where is it?"

"It's kinda big. We have to go to it."

"I don't need a car."

"I didn't get you a car. Come on."

"I have work to do."

"Unless you can solve a four month old murder in the fifteen minutes, it can and will wait until tomorrow. It's almost five, you're done for the day."

"What did you get me?"

"You have to come and see. The cold cases aren't going anywhere."

"Fine," she finally said, locking the file in her desk drawer. "Let's go."

* * *

"Rick, what did you do?" Kate asked, looking up at a huge townhouse on Park Avenue.

"This is our house. Yours and mine and the baby's."

"What about the loft?"

"There wasn't really much room for a baby, with my mother and Alexis and us. It would have gotten crowded. It was crowded with just the four of us. This has five bedrooms and an office, we can make one of the rooms into your office if you'd like. That leaves plenty of room for us and the baby and whatever other babies we add in the future," he said, smiling widely.

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves. What about Alexis and your mom?"

"Alexis grew up in the loft, she's not ready to let it go so she'll be staying there. We can lock my mother in the dungeon and bring her out when we need a babysitter."

"It has a dungeon?"

"No. But it has a basement. And backyard garden. Plenty of room for the kids to play. What do you think?"

She shook her head. "I just… I can't believe you got us a house for my birthday."

"You have to see what's inside."

"There's more?"

He smiled silently and took her hand, leading her to the door and into the house. Her mouth fell open as she looked around the entryway. She barely had time to take in the ornate wood mantel on the living room fireplace before he was pulling her up the stairs.

"This is the baby's room," he told her pausing in front of the closed door. The opened it, moving aside to let her see the inside of the room, watching as her face broke into a wide smile.

It was exactly what they'd talked about, light green walls with dark furniture, decorated with white, green and brown elephants. "This is amazing."

"I thought the baby might share your love of giant herbivores."

* * *

AN: so unlike Kate's wedding dress and to an extent the house (I combined three townhouses I found in New York for theirs, the way the baby's room is decorated really does exist. For those curious, here's the link to what the nursery looks like: babymania dot com /images/green%20elephant%20by%20carters dot jpg

annnd we're in November right now in the timeline, the baby is due in March. So there will be quite a few more chapters, with the "official" story ending with the birth, plus an epilogue that I've already written


	13. Chapter 13

"Can we cancel Thanksgiving?" Kate asked as she laid down on the couch, closing her eyes.

She'd been working more reasonable hours but moving into their house took most of her energy, especially because Rick was committed to celebrating the holiday in their house, giving them ten days to move in and decorate. Kevin, Jenny and their daughter, along with Esposito and Lanie, both their parents and Alexis and her boyfriend Max were all coming over. Making a feast for eleven people was no easy task.

"If you want to. Everyone will be here in five hours but I can call them and tell them you're not up to it."

She looked at him. "And ruin Thanksgiving for all our family and friends? I don't think so."

"They'll understand, Kate."

"Yeah, I know they'd understand. That's the problem." When he looked confused, she went on. "I've never taken a sick day, I've never given up on anything no matter how hard it was. I don't give up."

"It's Thanksgiving dinner. Not a case you need to solve. It's just dinner."

"Where are they supposed to eat? Nowhere is open today and we didn't exactly give them advanced notice to cook something themselves."

"McDonald's is open," he told her with a shrug as the doorbell rang.

"Oh, God. Someone's here. Someone's already here. They can't… the turkey isn't finished thawing."

"Shouldn't the turkey be in the oven by now?" he asked as he walked to the entryway.

"Oh God," she groaned again as he opened the door.

"Mother, Alexis, what are you doing here?" he asked when he saw them on the front step.

"Did you really think I was going to trust you to cook and serve Thanksgiving dinner?" Martha asked as she walked into the house, touching his cheek as she passed him. "Nothing personal, darling."

"We brought sweet potatoes," Alexis told him, smiling as she handed her father the covered dish.

He pulled his daughter into a one-armed hug, leaving his arm around her shoulders as he led her into the house. "We weren't expecting you until late. Didn't you have an early dinner with Max's family?"

Alexis shrugged one shoulder. "Grams thought you might need us. Max understands. So, he's spending the night with his parents."

"Everything ok?"

She smiled up at him, kissing his cheek softly. "Everything's fine. We'll have plenty of time together."

"Good way of looking at things."

"Especially because we're moving in together," she said quickly as they entered the kitchen, where Kate and Martha were already busy cooking. "How can I help?"

He grabbed his daughter's arm, pulling her around to look at him. "What was that?"

"I was just asking Kate and Grams…"

"Alexis."

"You said I could have a roommate at the loft."

"I… I didn't mean Max. I meant… Taylor or Jamie or Jordan."

"Also boy's names," Kate said.

"What?" Rick asked, exasperated.

"Taylor, Jamie, Jordan. All can be boy's names," she told him.

Rick sighed, turning back to his daughter. "Don't you have any friends who are girls?"

"I'm twenty years old, Dad."

"And when you can pay the 30,000 dollar rent for the loft, you can live with whoever you want. I'm not paying for you to shack up with your boyfriend."

"We aren't shacking up. It's close to campus, convenient for us both and…"

"So you won't be sharing a bedroom?"

Alexis opened her mouth and closed it again. "We're…"

"Mhmm. You figure out a plan that doesn't involve me most likely becoming a grandfather and run it by me."

* * *

"You should put a movie theater down there," Javi told Rick as they walked up the stairs from the basement. "With a hundred inch 3-D TV, leather recliners with cup holders. And a pool table."

Kate looked up as they returned to the living room from their house tour, along with Jenny and Kevin. "The basement is getting made into a playroom," she said as she sat on the couch with Amanda on her lap.

"There's eight other rooms in this place to choose from to give the kid for a playroom. We gotta have a man cave," Javi said.

"No man cave," Kate said, pointing to Rick. "You have your office. It's bad enough you're always falling asleep in there, I don't want you disappearing to the basement."

"Yes, dear." Rick walked over to Kate wrapping his arms around her and kissing her cheek. "You'll get sick of me."

"Mmm… good," she said with a smile, reaching around his neck to tangle her fingers in his hair.

"Get a room," Esposito mumbled as he sat in a large armchair. "I'm gonna sleep off the turkey coma."

"We had sex on that chair. And on the plate we served you dinner on," Rick told him, prompting Kate to slap his arm.

"We did not!"

"Ok, not on the plate. But your spoon was involved."


	14. Chapter 14

"Honey, how long are you gonna keep moping around?" Kate asked as she ran her fingers through Rick's hair, his head near her stomach.

"I'm not moping. My baby's grown up, she wants to live with a boy… who isn't me." He put his hand on her stomach. "You're not gonna grow up and leave me, right?" he said to the unborn baby. "You won't run off with a boy?" He blinked. "Or a girl if you're a boy. Or… or a girl, if you're a girl who likes girls or a boy if you're who likes boys. I'll love you no matter what. Just never leave me. Don't leave Daddy."

"To be technical, Alexis didn't leave you. We moved out, she's at the loft."

Rick raised his head to look at her. "Whose side are you on?"

"Yours. I agree that Alexis shouldn't live with Max while you're paying rent at the loft but she is twenty years old, she's a grown woman."

"She's not. She's six. She's six and she's scared to let me take her training wheels off."

"Her training wheels have been gone for a long time," she told him, continuing to stroke his hair. "You do have this one coming though."

"I'm never taking your training wheels off," he said, talking to her stomach again. "You're not allowed to grow up."

"I don't think it's something we stop. Come here," she said, tugging at his arm until her came to lay beside her. "It just happens. Kids grow up, they have kids of their own. We become grandparents."

"Stop," he whined. "Don't make me a grandfather. This one hasn't even been born yet."

She smiled at him. "Sorry. What would you rather talk about?"

"What do you want for Christmas?"

"Christmas? Rick, you just bought me a house for my birthday. Christmas is kind of irrelevant right now."

"Irrelevant? Christmas is never irrelevant."

"How are you going to top a house?"

"I'm not trying to top anything. I just want us to enjoy our first Christmas as a family."

She smiled again. "Ok, but can we tone it down a bit? I mean, the wedding's coming up and all I've picked out is the dress. There's still so much to do."

"Kate, who are you marrying? Everything is taken care of. We are getting married January 23rd , I saw Alexis' dress so I know the exact shade of blue and ordered flowers, I got the tuxes. You just need to decide on a cake."

"What… how is that taken care of? We'll never find a place in the city by then."

"Will you relax? Stress isn't good for the baby. Can you just choose to trust me when I tell you it is under control? Because everything is under control." He kissed her softly.

"Where are we getting married?"

"It's a surprise," he said with a smile.

"Ok, Castle, I'm not sure if you've noticed yet but I like knowing things," she told him as she sat up. "It's not that I don't trust you. It's that this is my wedding day we're talking about. And I love you but if you screw this up, I will kill you."

"Babe, you're forgetting that this is my wedding too. Do you really think I'll mess something up? I want this to be perfect, for both of us so when I ask you to trust me, just trust me."

"I do. Just tell me where we're getting married. You're the one who just said stress isn't good for the baby yet you are really stressing me out right now."

He sighed softly. "Ok. The Lighthouse at Chelsea Piers. I thought about Central Park, since that's where I proposed but it'll be outside at January and people will freeze."

"The Lighthouse? How… how did you get The Lighthouse?"

"I had a few strings pulled. Don't worry."

"Did we take someone's wedding day? If someone was gonna get married that day and we took their spot, you need to give it back to them."

"Do you really think I'd buy a wedding day off another couple?"

"Ok, then how did you get The Lighthouse reserved on such short notice?"

"I didn't. I reserved it the day you told me you were pregnant, told them I'd take the earliest available day, as long as it wasn't around January 9th."

"How'd you know I'd say yes when you proposed?"

"If you didn't, I would have been extremely persistent. I have a way of wearing you down, detective."

She smiled. "You do," she agreed.

"Which brings us back to Christmas. What do you want?"

"Hmm… well, I already have a miniature human growing inside me and you bought me a building."

"It's a house, not a building."

"Rick, I know how expensive this place was. You could have bought my entire old apartment building. And you're giving me an amazing wedding. Really, what else could I ask for?"

He shrugged. "A dog."

"We are not getting a dog. I'm drawing the line there."

"Then a cat."

She rolled her eyes. "You know what I want? I want for you to stop talking," she told him, kissing his lips softly. "So I can just take a few minutes to really enjoy that I have the best fiancée in the world."

"I'm glad you're finally realizing that."


	15. Chapter 15

AN: I skipped forward a bit to keep this story from dragging. This is the Christmas chapter, so we find out what Rick ended up getting her after the teasing last chapter. The wedding will probably happen in the next 3 or 4 chapters.

* * *

Kate let out a soft sigh as she closed the door behind Epsosito and Lanie, happy that Christmas dinner was over. It was similar to their Thanksgiving dinner, except a bit more chaotic with Amanda now crawling and Rick and Kate hadn't finished baby-proofing their house so she was getting into everything. Though once they sat her down in the living room with a small pile of presents, she gave up on her mission to open and pull out the contents of every kitchen cabinet she could reach.

She looked at Rick, who was shoving wrapping paper and cardboard boxes into a garbage bag. "You know, it might be easier if you broke the boxes down," she told him.

He shrugged, shoving a rather large box from one of Amanda's toys into the bag before stepping on the bag to condense the contents. He reached under the couch to pull out a large box, about three inches high. "Merry Christmas," he said, handing her the present.

"Another one? Why didn't you give it to me while everyone else was here?"

"Some things should stay private. Open it."

She sat on the couch with it, testing the weight. She could tell by how heavy it was that it wasn't lingerie or something they wouldn't have wanted their parents to see. "What is it?"

"Why don't you open it and see for yourself?"

She laughed, tearing the paper off the box then pulling the lid off. Inside the box sat a large book, leather bound like an antique book. On the front cover and spine, _The Castles _was written in fancy gold text. "What is this?"

"It's our family photo album." He pulled it out of the box, shoving the empty box onto the floor before putting the album on her lap and opening it. On the first page was pictures of both her parents and Martha, three birthdays and the date of her parents' wedding anniversary, written in Rick's neat handwriting.

The next page was dedicated to Kate, every picture dated with how old she was underneath it. She looked at the pictures of her as a chubby baby, a five year old in pigtails and a pink tutu, a seven year old smiling widely at the camera to show off her missing two front teeth, then a fourteen year old with braces, her at twenty-three, in her dress blues, freshly graduated from the Police Academy. And of course, the picture of her at nineteen years old, ice-skating with her mother.

The page next to it was Rick's, laid out similar to hers. The huge baby boy, with vibrant blue eyes that stood out despite the age of the picture. "This one's gross," she told him, pointing to the picture of him at six, his mouth bleeding as he proudly held up the tooth he'd just lost. The rest were various pictures of him playing little league or reading a book backstage at what she assumed was one of Martha's shows, the last one was him at the launch party of his first novel.

Then there was a page for Alexis, then the pictures of them together began. Starting in 2009, creating a timeline of their entire partnership. "Oh my God, where did you get this?" she asked, laughing at a picture of her with short redish hair, glaring at the camera.

"I took it. It was the ID photo of you on my phone for a while."

She laughed again, turning the pages, looking at the photos as they became more recent. The last one was a newspaper clipping of their engagement announcement, his arms around her from behind as they both smiled at the camera, the only picture where they actually looked like a couple instead of co-workers.

The next page was blank, except for a date written on the top, _January 23, 2016. _ "We'll fill this one in next month," he said.

The rest of the book was empty except for the page after their wedding. On that page, there was a black and white ultrasound photograph with a note written underneath it.

"_Dear Ricky or Johanna_," she began reading out loud. "_I don't know what your name is yet because we don't know if you're a boy or girl. This is a picture of you when you'd been growing for five months in your mommy's belly and we'll be waiting for four more months until we meet you to find out if we have a son or daughter_.

"_This album is about your family, so even though you haven't gotten a chance to meet some of them, you'll always know where you come from. A lot of these pictures will be of you because I know that even if you look like an alien now, you'll be cute_." Her head snapped up to look at him. "Rick, that's horrible! It doesn't look like an alien."

"Yes it does. Keep reading."

She rolled her eyes, turning back to the book. "_If you're lucky, you'll take after your mother, not only in looks but also in strength, passion, heart and kindness. I can't wait to meet you, to hold you in my arms and fill this book with pictures of you growing up._

"_If you're reading this by yourself, you're finally old enough to know of a Castle family tradition. First one to 1000 points wins. Turn around, I'll be waiting._

_Love, Daddy."_


	16. Chapter 16

"Lanie," Kate whined as her best friend dragged her by the hand to her apartment. "What are we doing?"

"I told you, it's a surprise. Will you calm down for two seconds?"

Kate groaned. "That's what Rick said when he brought home Lightsaber condoms."

"Lightsaber condoms?"

"They're glow in the dark, come in red, blue and green and make his… it was supposed to look like a Lightsaber."

Lanie laughed. "Did it?"

"He was too busy running around screaming that he was a Jedi for me to really notice."

"And did he use the force?"

"I guess so. Three weeks later I found out about little Yoda," she said, touching her stomach. "Don't tell him that's the night I got pregnant, he'll want to name the baby Anakin."

"He doesn't know?"

"Math isn't exactly his strong suit."

Lanie smiled, unlocking her door. When she flipped the light on, Alexis, Martha, Jenny and a few of the women who worked at the precinct jumped out from behind Lanie's furniture. "Surprise!"

"What did you do?" Kate asked, looking around at the blue and pink streamers and balloons that decorated the small living room.

"You didn't think I'd let you get married without a bachelorette party, did you?"

"It's more of a baby shower though," Alexis said. "We kind of had to combine them."

"Thank you guys but we pretty much have everything the baby will need."

"Darling, if this child is anything like it's father, you will need all the diapers and onesies and bibs you can get," Martha said, leading Kate to sit on the couch.

"But tonight isn't gonna be all about the baby," Lanie said with a smile. "Mike!" she called into her bedroom.

"Mike?" Kate asked. "Who's Mike?"

Alexis laughed as a man dressed as a cop, his shirt tight against him to show off his abs walked out of Lanie's room.

"You didn't think I'd throw you a party without a stripper, did you?" she asked as Kate tried to cover Alexis' eyes when the music started.

* * *

"Castle! Where are you, bro?" Rick heard Esposito voice call from his office as he worked on a chapter of his book. "Castle!"

He shook his head, walking out of his officer. "Who gave you a key?" he asked once he found Esposito and Ryan.

"Lanie."

"Who gave Lanie a key?"

Ryan shrugged. "Maybe your fiancée. Speaking of fiancée, you're coming with us."

"What? Is something wrong? Did something happen to Kate?" he asked as they each grabbed one of his arms to drag him out of the house.

"Lanie's got her," Esposito told him. "She's in good hands, just like you are."

"Wait, what? Where are we going?"

"You're getting married in two weeks. Where do you think we're going?"

* * *

"Oh, your father's gonna kill me," Kate said as she held up Alexis, who was so drunk she could hardly stand, leading her to the door of their house.

"He will not."

"Hopefully he passed out in his office again so he won't see you." She opened the door, nearly dropping Alexis when she saw Rick sleeping on the couch, wearing only a large diaper and bib with a ball and chain around his ankle. "Um… go… go upstairs and go to sleep. Try to forget everything you've seen tonight."

She stood at the entrance of the living room, looking at her unconscious fiancée. She dropped the bag of baby clothes and toys her friends had given her before she walked over to him, unable to keep herself from laughing. "Rick, wake up," she said, poking him in the shoulder.

He grunted as he moved, trying to pick up the foot that hung off the couch weighted down by the iron ball. "I can't move my foot," he muttered.

"Right, the only problem here is with your foot. What happened tonight?"

"Uh… Ryan and Espo took me to The Old Haunt and… and there was a girl."

"A girl? A naked girl?"

"Mmm… no. Not naked. Almost."

"That's too bad. We had a naked guy at my party."

That woke Rick up. He jolted upright to look at Kate. "There was a naked guy? Where? Where were you?" he asked before looking down at him. "What am I wearing?"

"Lanie threw a little party. There was a stripper, no big deal. I didn't have near as much fun as you seemed to have."

"Why am I wearing a diaper? Where are my clothes?"

"The diaper is probably the guys' trying to be funny. Your clothes are probably The Old Haunt, if that's where they put this on you. And the ball and chain. Classic."

"Can we just go to bed?" he asked, his head swimming.

"I don't think you're gonna make it. You probably can't stand and with that weight on your ankle, you're not going anywhere."

"Where's the key?"

"Espo didn't leave the key? Really?" She sat on the couch so she could examine the lock. "The key for my cuffs won't work in this. It's an old barrel lock. We don't even use locks like these at work. He must've got it from a joke shop or something."

"So what do I do?"

"I'll call Espo in the morning. Until then, I think you're stuck out here _baby_." She kissed his cheek quickly. "I'm gonna head to bed."

"Wait, you're not gonna stay out here with me?"

"I'm six months pregnant, I can't sleep on the couch."

* * *

Kate frowned as she walked to her desk at the station, her eyes falling on the defaced nameplate. She laughed, picking it up to look at it. The word Beckett was now hidden behind masking tape, with Castle written over it in black Sharpie so it now read Detective Castle. "Cute, Epso," she said, recognizing his handwriting.

"Detective Beckett," Gates called, motioning for her to come into her office. "I know after the honeymoon you'll be going on maternity leave but I just want to say congratulations." She opened a drawer of her desk and handed Kate a small blue teddy bear with the NYPD shield stitched into its chest. "I have a feeling we'll be seeing this one in the Academy in 21 years. If your baby takes after either of you, it'll be a great cop."

* * *

AN: I don't even know what the point of this chapter was. Just funny (I hope) filler. The wedding will probably be next chapter because I have no idea what else to write leading up to it.


	17. Chapter 17

"_Sad news for the ladies of New York today. The White Whale has officially been hooked. That's right, Richard Castle, one of the city's most eligible bachelors is getting married this afternoon to one of New York's finest, Katherine Beckett who as you may know inspired Castle's best selling Nikki Heat novels. The couple is expecting their first child…"_

Rick blinked as the television screen went black and looked at Alexis, who's finger was on the power button on the top of the flat screen.

"Dad, how are you watching TV right now?"

"It was there and I…" he trailed off when he saw his daughter in her knee-length, strapless, dark blue bridesmaids dress. "You look gorgeous, sweetheart."

"And you're not even dressed yet. Where's your tie?" she asked as she walked into the room, searching around until she found his platinum color tie and vest. "Come here," she told him, helping him put his vest on then tied his bowtie around his neck. "This one's real, Dad."

"I know. I can't screw this one up."

"You won't. She's not Gina or Mom. She's different, from anyone you've dated. In a good way."

He sighed softly, looking down at her. "Lex, me and your mom…"

"Don't," she told him. "I know. You always tried to hide what happened but I know. Today isn't about Mom anyway. She's not here. This is about you and Kate."

"I never asked if you were ok with this."

"It's not about me either."

"Alexis."

"What, if I tell you I'm not are you gonna leave Kate and the baby?"

"Are you?"

"I'm happy as long as you're happy," she told him. "And I know she makes you happy. Happier than I've ever seen you. Yeah, it is a little weird adjusting to the fact that I'm not your baby anymore but…"

"You'll always be my baby girl," he said, hugging her. "No matter what."

* * *

"You're lucky you did this now before your boobs got any bigger," Lanie told Kate as she helped her get into her dress.

Kate groaned, looking at herself in the mirror. She tried with little success to pull the dress up, but it fell back down so her cleavage spilled out. "I cannot get married like this. What was I thinking? I should have waited until the baby was born."

"Uh huh, then you'd be lactating while you said your vows. Gotta take the lesser of two evils."

"Why even bother wearing a dress? I should just get married naked."

"I'm sure Castle would like that. Actually, I know someone who might be able to help."

"What?" Kate asked as Lanie left her side. "Lanie!" she yelled after her but she had already left the room.

A few moments later, she returned with Martha in tow. "Oh, darling, you look absolutely breathtaking."

Kate smiled at the woman who in less than two hours would be her mother-in-law. "Thank you, Martha but as you can probably tell, there's a little problem here," she said, motioning to her chest.

"Oh, that's no problem at all. I've had my fair share of wardrobe malfunctions, believe me. We'll have you ready to walk down that aisle in no time."

* * *

"Katie, honey?" Jim asked, knocking on Kate's door before looking in. "Oh, sweetheart… look at you," he said softly, walking over to his daughter. "You look just like your mother on our wedding day."

"I wish she was here. I wish she could meet her grandchild," she said, putting her hand against her stomach, smiling as the baby kicked.

"She's always here, Katie," he told her, kissing the side of her head softly. "You know that."

"I know I just wish that she was… here. Actually, psychically here. Like she should be."

Jim nodded. "I know," he whispered. "Come on. Rick's waiting."

* * *

Rick clasped his hands behind his back, watching Ryan and Alexis then Esposito and Lanie walk toward him, the boys' vest and tie matching Alexis and Lanie's dresses. "Wait till you see her, bro," Esposito whispered as he took his place behind Rick.

"Really?" he asked with a smile. Espo smiled, nodding towards the end of the aisle as the small crowd of their guests stood as Kate entered with Jim. Rick let out a small gasp as she walked toward him.

"God, you're beautiful," he whispered as Jim put her hand into his and sat next to Martha.

"You're not so bad yourself, Castle," she teased.

He laughed quickly. "You know, after writing five books and half of a sixth one based on you, you still manage to leave me speechless. Looking at you like this, the words I wrote this morning just don't seem to hold as much meaning."

"You only wrote your vows this morning?" she interrupted.

"I work best under pressure, remember?" he said. "Anyway, as I was saying, I did prepare what I wanted to say but that was before I saw you, but then… like I said, I'm speechless. After all these years, all the books, I'm just now realizing no words I can write or say will never fully capture all your beauty, your heart, and the love I feel for you. I can't wait to officially start our family and our life together. I can't wait until I can call you my wife."

She smiled. "Well, unlike you I had to write my vows weeks ago and I just realized about thirty minutes ago that I forgot them at the house so I'm just kind of going off memory here. I remember when we first met, when I had to question you for a murder, I thought you were just some egotistical jackass playboy without any sense of responsibility for yourself or for anyone else. Then I got to know you and you were still an egotistical jackass at times but I also got to know the you away from the parties and the girls whose boobs you signed. Which, by the way, you're never allowed to do again."

He grinned, nodding. "Noted."

"Good. Anyway, I got to know the real Rick Castle. A loyal friend, an amazing son and a fantastic father, the man I fell in love with. You used to joke about me being your work wife and the first time I heard you say that word to me I knew, I wanted to be your wife, at work and at home. I couldn't be happier that today it's finally becoming real. Oh, and apparently neither can Little Castle here," she said with a laugh, putting Rick's hand against her stomach as the baby kicked.

He laughed. "I know, I know," he said, looking at her stomach. "Finally, right? We might not have done it in order but Mommy and Daddy are married now."

"Not yet," Esposito said, pulling the rings out of his jacket pocket and handing them to Rick, who wasted no time sliding the ring onto her finger.

"I pronounce you man and wife," the justice of the peace said.

"_Now_ Mommy and Daddy are married," Rick whispered to the baby.

"What are you waiting for?" Esposito asked, smacking Rick in the head. "Kiss her, man."

Rick turned to look at his best man, smiling as he shoved him backwards.

"Whoa. Don't mess with the tux, bro," Espo said, adjusting his jacket.

Kate couldn't help laughing, grabbing Rick's chin so he turned back to her. "Hi."

"Oh, hi. I forgot about you."

"Nice." She wrapped both arms around his neck, pulling him into a deep kiss.


	18. Chapter 18

AN: I added a picture/cover thing to the story. There might be a onesie that has that printed on it making an appearance later on. And I thought it was cute.

* * *

Kate smiled as Rick came up behind her, wrapping a hoodie around her shoulders. "Still cold?" he asked, his arms around her from behind.

"Mmm… I'm getting warmer," she said with a smile as she stuck her arms through the too-long sleeves.

He smiled kissing her neck softly. "You know, we could have gone somewhere warmer for our honeymoon. I know the Hamptons in winter is horrible."

"It isn't horrible. Besides, I'm not planning on going outside," she told him, turning around to face him, the hooding sliding off her shoulders as she wrapped her arms around him.

"Still, if you'd like to go somewhere where we don't have to bundle up and sit by the fire…"

"I kind of like it. Wearing your hoodies, cuddled up with you on the couch. It's nice."

He smiled. "Well, if you change your mind, we can just jump on a plane and head to the house in Maui or the Virgin Islands."

"Wait, what? You have houses in Maui and the Virgin Islands?"

"Technically, Mrs. Castle, _we_ do. There's also the farm house in Tuscany, the villa in the south of France…"

"A villa?"

"It's basically just an ocean front property that…"

"I know what a villa is. Is there a castle in Ireland too?"

"No but if you want a vacation home in Ireland, we can look into it. It won't be a castle but…"

She shook her head. "So you have five vacation houses, including this one?"

"We do," he corrected.

"Plus the house in the city."

"All the vacation homes are income property, Kate. I rent them out for people on vacation when I'm not using them. They're all paid in full so the rent is just money in my pocket. You know I don't like playing with the stock market, the houses are investments."

"I just… I can't believe you never told me."

"I guess I didn't see how it was important."

"You didn't… I didn't think your estate was that big. I mean, you have millions of dollars just in houses."

He nodded, not telling just how many millions he had invested in his homes. "Look if you're worried, you and the baby and whatever other kids we might have are taken care so if something happens…"

"Why wasn't there a pre-nup?" she asked suddenly, cutting him off.

He shook his head once, blinking. "Did… did you want there to be one? You're scared I'll want to take your shoes if something happens, aren't you?"

"I'm serious. How could your lawyer not want you to get one?"

"He did but there's no use for one. We're never breaking up and if for whatever reason we do, you can take everything. The houses, I'll even sign all the rights to Nikki Heat over to you. I won't want anything. I'll go live in a box. Nothing will have any meaning or value without you."

"You really know how to charm a girl."

"I'm serious. If I ever do something so horrible to you that you feel the need to leave me, I'll deserve whatever happens to me."

"Well it's nice to know you think you'll be the one to screw up."

"We just got married two days ago. We should probably stop talking like this." He leaned against the wall, pulling her against him. "You know how much I love you. More than I've loved anyone else. Besides, you're still a one-and-done kinda girl, right?"

She nodded. "That's right. So I guess I'm stuck with you."

* * *

Kate moved against Rick's side as they walked along the deserted beach, wrapping her arms around his waist. It was well below freezing but after a week of confining themselves to the house, she started to get restless, complaining that there was so much to do in the months before the baby came. She told him they needed to go home, he told her this was their honeymoon and to relax. They finally agreed on taking a walk on the beach.

It was snowing gently, making the frozen sand hard. It was easier to walk on, which Kate was grateful for. She hated the sinking feeling walking on sand regularly.

"This would have been nicer if we were in Hawaii," he told her.

"I don't know. I'd rather walk like this than just holding hands on a crowded beach. Plus, I'm not exactly bikini ready."

"I keep telling you, you never have to wear a swimsuit for my benefit. And the beach next to the house in Maui is semi-private, we only share it with our neighbors so it wouldn't exactly be crowded."

"Maybe we can take the kids there someday."

"Kids? Multiple? Really?"

She rolled her eyes. "Well, we have enough houses to send them all to a different country if they misbehave."

"Yeah, we can have three kids. Four if you count Hawaii. That's far enough away, right?"

"No, I want to keep Hawaii for us. We can retire there. Though moving to Europe sounds amazing too."

"I could see us in Tuscany. Picking grapes at a vineyard, watching the sunset while we drink Carmignano. And the property is huge there, we can get all kinds of animals."

"A horse? Can we get a horse?"

He grinned. "If that's what you want, of course. You know, it's nice to hear you talking like this."

"Like what?"

"About the future. Well… us growing old together. Retiring, leaving the city. A few months ago you didn't think you'd live to see our child grow up."

She shrugged. "I'm not gonna lie and say it doesn't cross my mind." She stopped walking and pressed her hand against his stomach, prompting him to look at her. "And I am scared that one day I won't come home but I can't let that stop me. I promise though, I'll do whatever I can to make sure I come home to you at the end of the day."


	19. Chapter 19

Kate smiled at Rick from across the table as they sat in a quiet little Italian restaurant. He came from their bedroom dressed in a dark grey suit with a navy shirt and light blue tie, holding a dress for her and telling her to get dressed so they could go out.

All he'd told her on the way to the restaurant was that he'd had reservations for them last time they'd been to the Hamptons but had lost them after spending a couple hours in lockup.

She reached across the table to touch his hand, her fingers sliding over his smooth wedding band. "This is amazing."

He smiled. "Well, it is our honeymoon. We should go on one date, right? No fun staying cooped up in the house."

"I don't know, it's a little fun."

Rick grinned then jumped when he heard someone call him. He turned quickly to look behind him then swore under his breath, turning back to Kate as people who had been eating their dinner in peace all looked at the woman coming to the small corner table.

"Ricky, it's so great to see you."

He groaned softly then stood. "Paige, how are you?" He hugged her briefly, moving away from her before she could kiss him and sat back down. "This is my wife, Kate," he said before Paige had gotten a chance to answer his question.

Kate smiled to herself, a warm tingling running down her spine at her new title. He'd teasingly called her Mrs. Castle a handful of times but it was the first time he introduced her as his wife to anyone.

Paige's eyes scanned over Kate, her eyes landing on her stomach. "You've certainly been a busy boy haven't you, Ricky?"

"Um… where's Hank?" he asked quickly.

"Oh, he's at a meeting. We can catch up later. All four of us. I'm sure Hank would love to meet Kate."

"Kate's a cop so…" he told her. Kate's eyes narrowed, wondering how that was relevant.

"Honey, you know nothing we do is illegal. Just a bit of fun between four consenting…"

"Well, I'm full," he announced standing up. He pulled out his wallet, tossing three bills onto the table before he grabbed Kate's hand. "It was… nice seeing you, Paige. Tell Hank I said hi," he said quickly before he pulled Kate out of the restaurant.

"What the hell was that about?" Kate demanded as they walked to the car.

"It was… nothing. Paige and her husband used to… know me and Gina."

"Oh God," she muttered in disgust as she pulled her hand from Rick's and walked ahead of him to the car.

"It wasn't," he began but was cut off when the car door slammed. He opened his door and sat in the driver's seat but didn't start the car. "It was only a couple of times."

She shook her head. "Look, it's none of my business what happened between you and Gina. It was years ago. I just never thought you were… interested in guys."

"I'm not. I didn't! We didn't… we shared."

"Shared? You mean like swinging?"

He nodded. "Things with me and Gina we're working anymore, she said she knew a couple who might be interested in… exploring new avenues. She thought it might fix things."

"Oh yeah, supervised cheating. Why wouldn't that save someone's marriage?" she spat.

"I thought you weren't gonna judge."

"I never said that. I said it wasn't my business, it was your choice to tell me and you should have known I'd judge. Judging is what I do."

"I knew we should have gone to France," he mumbled.

"You do know I speak French, right? I'd still know when a woman you slept with popped up. And I speak Italian too, so Italy wouldn't have saved you either."

"You say that like I have women all over the world."

"Don't you?"

"No. I have one," he said, turning to look at her. "And she's sitting in this car with me."

Kate looked into the backseat as if she expected another woman to be sitting back there then looked back to Rick.

"I love you," he told her. "You and only you."

She smiled and kissed him quickly. "Good. This trip has been really enlightening for me."

"It's a little late to be having second thoughts," he told her.

"Don't worry, I'm not. Like I said, the past is in the past. I won't hold something you did over ten years ago, when you were married to someone else, with a woman you probably thought I'd never meet, against you."

"I honestly thought I'd never see her again."

"I know. It was before you even knew I existed. It's fine, really. There are things I hope you never find out about me."

He turned in his seat to face her fully. "Like what?"

"I'm not telling you. I just said I hope you never find out."

"You found out a dirty little secret from my past. It's only fair that you tell me one of yours."

"The difference being you didn't tell me willingly. Why should I tell you something when the only reason you told me is because you got pushed into a corner?"

"That's not… I'm not gonna start the car until you tell me."

"It's freezing. Would you really make your pregnant wife sit out in 28 degree weather?"

"Just tell me one thing."

She rolled her eyes, grabbing the car keys from him. She quickly stuck the key into the ignition and turned the car on. "Turn it off and I'll just turn it right back on," she told him as he reached up for the key. "We can do this all night until the engine floods. Or we can just go home and take a bath and you can use your writer's imagination on what my secret is."

"You know how dangerous that is, right?"

She smiled, letting out a quick giggle. "That's just more fun for me at the end of the night."


	20. Chapter 20

"Going somewhere?" Kate asked as she looked at Rick, who was packing a bag on their bed. They'd just finished unpacking from their honeymoon and had fallen back into their day-to-day normal routine.

He glanced up at her, then back down at his suitcase, refolding the shirt he'd just packed. "I have to do the book tour," he told her. "Remember?"

She shrugged, she'd been scatter brained lately, having too much on her mind to retain much of anything.

He'd put it off as long as he possibly could, his last book came out a week before Christmas and he refused to do a tour so soon before the wedding. He attempted to put it off longer, until after the baby was born, but his publishing team all knew he would never allow himself to leave his newborn child.

And his publishers were starting to get angry with him. The book release date had been set for a year; the baby, the marriage was all unplanned and mostly last minute. As much as they respected that his family had to come first, he still did have a career to focus on and it was a career that would require him to leave his family.

The sales of the latest novel weren't high as expected, which his team told him was because of the lack of press surrounding the release. They'd finally succumbed to threats to get him to do a tour: do it or you're done. They'd drop him from his contract and threatened to blackball him in the writing community, so he wouldn't be able to find a new publisher. He was doing it on his terms though, the tour would only cover the east coast, starting in Florida and going up the coast so he'd get closer to New York every day.

Kate simply nodded and accepted it. He had to do what he had to do. Even if they did just get back from their honeymoon less than two weeks ago and had a baby due in five.

He looked up from his suitcase as she sat on the bed. He carelessly dropped a shirt onto the top of a neatly folded pile and sat next to her. "I'll be back in time," he told her. "I promise."

She nodded, trying to fight back the thoughts that he might not be. His tour would last for three weeks. "Babies don't normally operate on a pre-set schedule."

"Look at me." When she eyes met his, he put his hands on either side of her face. "I will be here. If I'm not, call me and I will get here as quick as I can. Alexis and my mother will both be here if you need anything."

"What I need is you. For you to be here, for you to hold my hand."

"So you can break it when the contractions hit? No thank you, that's what Alexis is for."

She let out a quick laugh, slapping his arm then leaning her head against his shoulder. "This house is gonna be lonely without you."

"Mother will be here," he told her. Martha had been living at the loft with Alexis until she found a roommate, one that Rick approved of. It wasn't difficult for her to find someone willing to move into the loft rent-free, the problem was choosing which of her friends it would be.

But now with two twenty-year-old girls living there, Martha began to feel out of place (and very old) so she decided she'd move into the house to help take care of the baby.

"It won't be you though. It's just gonna be a long three weeks."

"Tell me about it. I'll be in a different city every day."

"No parties, right?"

He laughed. "Even if I wanted to, I wouldn't have enough time."

"You'll call me every night though, right?"

"Of course I will. I won't be able to make it through the day without hearing your voice."

* * *

Rick smiled as he signed books, an endless stream of "thanks for coming out" and "who am I making this out to?" Thankfully, he was in the last stretch of his tour and would be home in a week.

Gina walked over to the table he was sitting at and put a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry, folks. We're gonna have to cut this short. If you'll leave your name and address, we'll be more than happy to send you a signed copy of Growing Heat or if you sign up for our mailing list, we'll let you know when Mr. Castle's next tour is scheduled."

Rick stood to look at Gina as the crowd all made sounds of disapproval and disgust. "What's going on?"

"There's a plane waiting at Bradley International, you'll be in New York in half an hour. We'll send your luggage home later. Alexis just called, Kate's in labor. She's not far along so you have time, but you have to go."

He grabbed his jacket and was gone before Gina had finished her last sentence.

* * *

AN: next chapter will obviously be the birth, then there will be an epilogue but the story's winding up now. I'm thinking of taking a hiatus from writing and want to get a bow around this story before I do.


	21. Chapter 21

Rick paused when he saw the car waiting for him at the airport and the man leaning against the hood of the Mustang. "Espo?"

"About damn time. You realize your kid's being born?"

"Yeah, I know. Planes have this problem with traveling at light speed. I was in Hartford, sorry."

Esposito rolled his eyes. "You gonna fight with me or are you gonna get in the car?"

"You're gonna drive me to the hospital?"

He shrugged. "You need to get there quick, my car's got lights and a siren so I can blow through traffic and run red lights."

"Is that legal?"

"Nope. Get in."

He glanced at Esposito as he sat in the passenger seat and noticed a bruise on the man's hand as he turned the key. "What happened to you?"

"Your wife. Get ready for some broken hand bones."

* * *

They were at the hospital in a matter of minutes, Esposito skidded to a stop in front of the doors, telling Rick Kate's room number before shoving him out of the car and going to park.

He went up to the maternity wing and ran down the hall, looking at the numbers on the walls before seeing the room Esposito told him. He stopped quickly, sliding on the linoleum then entered the room.

"Kate," he gasped when he saw his sleeping wife in the hospital bed. He walked over to her, reaching out to touch her hand.

"Richard, don't you dare wake that girl up," Martha said from the corner of the room, making him jump. "Poor thing's finally getting a rest. She's been having contractions every ten minutes for the last two hours."

He looked at Kate then walked over to sit next to his mother. "She's ok?"

"As ok as she can be, I suppose. Thank the lord you're here though. We thought she was going to have to do this without you."

"No. Gina knew if I came home to a baby next week I'd never forgive her and she'd be out of a job. She's stubborn but she's not stupid."

"Castle," Kate whispered from the other side of the room.

He went quickly to her side, holding her hand as he sat in the chair near her bed. "Hey, sweetheart."

"You made it."

"Of course I made it. I wouldn't miss it for the world." He kissed her forehead softly. "Sorry I'm late though."

"Sorry we're early."

He smiled. "Well, you can't really expect our kid to do anything on time, right?"

"I thought your kid would be running late."

"Yeah, I'm surprised it didn't just stay in there until it was time to go to college."

She smiled, shaking her head. "Part of me is happy that isn't gonna happen but I was fine keeping it here," she said, running her hand along her stomach. "Where it's safe."

"Trust me, we'll all be safe." He looked at her stomach. "Hear that? It's safe to come out, peanut."

* * *

Rick smiled down at the tiny pink bundle of blankets in his arms before glancing at Kate, who was asleep in her bed. "This is probably the only time in my life both of you will be asleep at once," he whispered to his sleeping daughter. "Please don't give me too much of a heart attack when you become a teenager, alright? You be a good girl for Daddy and I'll buy you a pony."

"Bribery is always a way to get what you want. You might have to give her the house in Hawaii if you really want her to behave." Rick turned to look at his wife, who was now sitting propped up against her pillows. "Bring me my baby," she said, holding her arms out.

He walked over to her, placing Johanna in Kate's arms before he sat on the bed with them. "She looks like you," he whispered.

"Poor kid."

"Out of the two options she has, I think she got it right."

"Yeah, you're right. With that nose? Alexis got lucky." She smiled up at him, nudging him with her elbow. "At least she has your eyes. I was hoping she would."

* * *

AN: the epilogue will be posted probably in a few days but this is the end of the official story


	22. Epilogue

Rick rubbed his eye as he walked out of his and Kate's bedroom, glancing into Johanna's empty nursery before going downstairs, pausing on the steps when he heard voices in the kitchen.

"Stop crying, Jo. Mommy's here. Mommy's right here."

"If he hears her…"

"He won't. It takes a train to wake him up and he's all the way upstairs. Don't worry. Did you put the coffee on?"

"Yeah. And the bacon's crisping."

Rick smiled, hoping off the last steps before going into the kitchen, where Alexis was making breakfast and Kate was holding a screaming Johanna in her arms, trying to get the ten-week-old baby to calm down.

"Nice to see my girls remembered my birthday," he said with a grin as he walked into the room. He kissed Kate on the forehead and took Johanna, rocking her in his large arms until she settled down.

"We were gonna make you breakfast in bed," Alexis said with a shrug. "It's almost finished."

"All of you? Even you, Poopy?" he asked, looking down at the baby he held.

"I can't believe you call our daughter Poopy."

He shrugged. "I called Alexis Pukey until she was three."

Alexis turned to look at him. "You did?"

"Hey, if the name fits…"

"Alright, Papa Smurf, before you decide to scar and ostracize both of your daughters for life, I have a present for you," Kate told him. "Just wait here." She patted his arm then walked up the stairs.

Rick turned to look at Alexis. "Papa Smurf?"

She shrugged. "You wear a lot of blue…"

Kate returned holding a thin box, Rick handed Johanna to Alexis and raised his eyebrows at his wife. "You bought me a bracelet?"

She rolled her eyes. "I was gonna give it to you after you ate your breakfast but you kind of ruined that part so… here," she said, pulling him away from the girls before handing the box to him.

"Does whatever's in this box vibrate? Because if it does we might have to start calling Alexis Pukey again."

"Does it look big enough to hold something like that? Just open it."

He tore the wrapping paper off then pulled the lid off the box. "You saved the test from when we found out about Jo all this time?" he asked, looking at the positive pregnancy test.

She shook her head. "No, this is new. Apparently women who just gave birth are extremely fertile. So I guess you can thank the one time Johanna slept through the night."

He glanced at his daughters, smiling when he saw Alexis beaming at him. "Wow. We're… we're gonna be parents. Again. Already."

"Yeah. Say something else. Preferably a full sentence."

He shook his head, smiling. "This… this is crazy. But amazing. We're gonna have another baby. Maybe even a boy? I'm already overrun with women as it is."

"I don't know that there's much I can do but I'll try to get this one to come out with a penis."

"I'd appreciate it. But if it doesn't, you did promise that someday I'd get Rick Junior."

"Yeah, someday." She put a hand on his chest to keep him from hugging her too close when he put his arms around her. "But after this one's born, you're not touching me for at least a year."

He smirked. "You know that means you can't touch me for a year?"

"Right. Somehow I think I'll survive."

**The End**

* * *

AN: short epilogue/last chapter, possibly to lead up to a sequel. But like I said a couple chapters ago, I'm taking a break so if I do write it it might be a while. Bye for now. Thanks for reading! :)


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